High straightness arrow and method of manufacture

ABSTRACT

The high straightness arrow in the present invention is designed to improve the straightness of the archery arrow by adopting new manufacturing technique and method. Chamber and post are made of dissimilar metals and the chamber includes a wall that creates an external housing and defines an internal airspace. Once the post with shaft is positioned through chamber, nuts are tightened securely, forming an assembly, to straighten post. Due to the different coefficients of thermal expansion of chamber and post, when they are heated simultaneously, the chamber expands more than the post, creating a natural tension along post which results in a near perfectly straight shaft. As the assembly cools, the post and chamber return to their original length, yet the shaft retains its straightened form and thus this manufacturing process yields an arrow shaft that is straighter than shafts made of the same materials but with a traditional manufacturing technique.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of, and claims the benefit of priorityto, U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/298,287 filed Nov. 16,2011, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,939,753, entitled “High StraightnessArrow and Method of Manufacture,” which claims priority to and thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/413,983,filed on Nov. 16, 2010, entitled “High Straightness Arrow and Method ofManufacture.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to archery arrows, and morespecifically to techniques for improving the straightness of the arrowand method of manufacture for the high straightness arrow. The presentinvention is more particularly, though not exclusively, useful as amanufacturing technique which provides for more consistent straightnessto the arrows.

Description of the Related Art

In the archery industry, there is a consistent drive towardsmanufacturing arrows having improved straightness. Specifically, anarrow's flight path is determined in large part by the flexibility andstraightness of the arrow shaft. While some natural oscillations areexpected in a carbon fiber shaft, the overall, steady state straightnessis highly coveted by archers as it improves the accuracy of the arrowshot.

In light of this consistent pursuit of arrow straightness, a highstraightness arrow and method of manufacture have been developed. Thehigh straightness arrow is manufactured from carbon fiber materialsgenerally known and used in the archery industry. Arrows manufacturedusing the technique of the present invention are consistently morestraight than arrows made using the same materials but with atraditional manufacturing technique.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The high straightness arrow in the present invention is designed toimprove the straightness of the archery arrow by adopting newmanufacturing technique and method of using carbon fiber materials.

In a preferred embodiment, chamber and post are made of dissimilarmetals and the chamber includes a wall that creates an external housingand defines an internal airspace. The post wrapped with a carbon fibershaft may be inserted into the chamber and post may be threaded on itsends that extend outside chamber. Once post with shaft is positionedthrough chamber, nuts are tightened securely, forming an assembly, tostraighten post. Due to the greater coefficient of thermal expansion ofchamber than that of post, when they are heated simultaneously, thechamber length expands more than the length of the post.

At the end of the heating cycle, a difference in length of chamber andpost creates a natural tension along post which results in a nearperfectly straight shaft. As the assembly cools, the post and chamberreturn to their original length, yet the shaft retains its straightenedform and thus this manufacturing process yields an arrow shaft that isstraighter than shafts made of the same materials but with a traditionalmanufacturing technique.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The nature, objects, and advantages of the present invention will becomemore apparent to those skilled in the art after considering thefollowing detailed description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference numerals designate like partsthroughout, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an arrow in the present invention, withan illustration of lateral flexure when it is shot;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of an arrow equipped within a chamber usedto manufacture the high straightness arrow and method of manufacture inthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a chamber loaded with post, shaft andnuts illustrating the expansion of the chamber when heated; and

FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of the correspondingly expandedlengths of the chamber and post in the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an arrow is shown and generally designated 100.Arrow 100 includes a shaft 102 with a tip end 104 having equipped with apoint 106, and fletching 108 adjacent nock end 110 equipped with a nock112. Arrow 100 often is manufactured with an inherent, yet unwanted,curvature shown by dashed lines 102′. This curvature creates a flightpath that is not as straight as a perfectly straight arrow as thecurvature results in a flight that is not axial to the arrow shaft 102.Specifically, the arrow shaft 102 bends along its length so as todeflect a distance 114. As a result of the non-linear flight, the targetis often missed.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the arrow 100 as taken along lines2-2 of FIG. 1 which illustrates a shaft 102 having a diameter 116, awall thickness 118, and defines an internal bore 120. These dimensionscan vary depending on the type of arrow being manufactured, and can beincreased or decreased depending on the materials used in the shaft, aswell as the style of arrow being manufactured.

The chamber used to manufacture the high straightness arrow and methodof manufacture is shown in FIG. 3 with a portion cut away for clarity,and generally designated 150. Chamber 150 includes a wall 152 thatcreates an external housing 154 and defines an internal airspace 156.Wall 152 is formed with a pair of holes 158 through which a post 160 canbe inserted such that post 160 passes longitudinally through theinternal chamber 156. It is appreciated that chamber 150 may be madesuch that the post 160 wrapped with a carbon fiber shaft 102 may beinserted. For instance, chamber 150 may have multiple pieces, aremovable cover, or the holes 158 are sized to pass post 162 with shaft102 through the length of the chamber 150. Post 160 may be threaded onits ends that extend outside chamber 150. Once post 160 with shaft 102is positioned through chamber 150, nuts 162 and 164 are tightenedsecurely to straighten post 160.

In a preferred embodiment, chamber 150 and post 160 are made ofdissimilar metals. Specifically, the coefficient of thermal expansion ofchamber 150 is greater than that of post 160 such that when they areheated simultaneously, the chamber 150 length expands more than thelength of the post 160.

As shown in FIG. 4, chamber 150 is loaded with post 160 and shaft 102,and nuts 162 and 164 are securely tightened in place to form anassembly. In this configuration, chamber 150 has a length 170 at thestarting temperature. Once tightened, the entire assembly is placed intoan oven or other heat source. This heat source heats the assembly suchthat shaft 102 is exposed to a uniform heat. In a preferred embodiment,chamber 150 may be tubular so that the distance from the longitudinalwalls of the device are the same along the length of the arrow shaft102. Once heated the chamber expands to a length 172 that is greaterthan the length of the post 160 expansion length.

Referring to FIG. 5, a graphical representation 200 of thecorrespondingly expanded lengths of the chamber 150 and post 160 areshown. Specifically, graph 200 includes a representative graph of theexpanded length pf the chamber as a function of temperature. Chamber 150begins with original length 170 and as the temperature rises, the lengthof the chamber increases as dashed line shows to length 172. The lengthof the post 160, however, begins at length 170, yet expands at a lesserrate as shown by solid line 202. At the end of the heating cycle, thereis a difference in length 204 that creates a natural tension along post160 which results in a near perfectly straight shaft 102.

As the assembly cools, the post and chamber return to their originallength, yet the shaft retains its straightened form and thus thismanufacturing process yields an arrow shaft that is straighter thanshafts made with different techniques.

While there have been shown what are presently considered to bepreferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can bemade herein without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for manufacturing a high straightnessarrow shaft comprising the steps of: applying a composite fiber materialto a post; installing said post and said composite fiber material withina chamber, wherein said chamber comprises a wall forming an externalhousing and a chamber length, said chamber further comprising a metalhaving a first coefficient of thermal expansion, said chamber lengthincreases as temperature rises and decreases as temperature lowers,wherein said post comprises a metal having a second coefficient ofthermal expansion smaller than said first coefficient of thermalexpansion and a post length, said post length increases as temperaturerises and decreases as temperature lowers at a slower rate than saidchamber length; heating said chamber, said post, and said compositefiber material evenly and simultaneously, wherein heating said post andsaid chamber allows said post to expand according to said secondcoefficient of thermal expansion and allows said chamber to expandaccording to said first coefficient of thermal expansion, such that saidchamber length expands more than said post length when heat is applied,thereby creating tension in said post; curing said composite fibermaterial on said post, said composite fiber material becoming a highstraightness arrow shaft; cooling said chamber, said post, and said highstraightness arrow shaft, such that said chamber and said post return toan original length; and removing said high straightness arrow shaft fromsaid post.
 2. The process of claim 1, wherein an expansion of said postaccording to said second coefficient of thermal expansion results in aninternal diameter of said high straightness arrow shaft greater than anexternal diameter of said post after cooling.
 3. The process of claim 1,wherein said post further comprises a first end and a second end.
 4. Theprocess of claim 3, wherein said first end and said second end of saidpost are externally threaded to accept a nut.
 5. The process of claim 1,wherein said chamber further comprises a first wall having at least onefirst hole and a second wall having at least one second hole, disposedon opposite ends of said chamber, and wherein said first end of saidpost is secured to said first hole, and said second end of said post issecured to said second hole.
 6. The process of claim 1, wherein saidchamber is tubular in shape, allowing uniform heating of both saidchamber and said post simultaneously.
 7. The process of claim 1, whereinsaid step of installing said post and said composite fiber materialwithin a chamber comprises the steps of securing a first end of saidpost to a first hole and a second end of said post is to a second hole.8. The process of claim 7, wherein said step of installing said post andsaid composite fiber material within the chamber is by a quick release.9. The process of claim 1, wherein said step of applying said compositefiber material to said post further comprises the step wherein saidcarbon fiber material is woven in a mesh around the circumference anddown the length of said post, such that there is no seam in said carbonfiber.
 10. The process of claim 9, wherein said step of applying acomposite fiber material to the post further comprises the step ofapplying an adhesive to bind said carbon fiber to said exterior of saidpost.
 11. The process of claim 10, wherein the step of removing saidhigh straightness arrow shaft from said post comprises the step ofapplying a releasing agent to break down said adhesive, allowing easyremoval of said high straightness arrow shaft from said mandrel.
 12. Theprocess of claim 1 further comprising the step of polishing said highstraightness arrow shaft removed from said post to remove imperfections.